Oakland council leans against BART airport line

OAKLAND Funding in place, but City Council leaning toward rejecting project

Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer

Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Oakland leaders are poised to reject BART's proposal to build a 3.2-mile elevated train to the city's airport - a $522 million project that supporters say will create thousands of jobs but one that critics call a financial boondoggle.

The City Council will vote tonight on whether to endorse the project, which would bring riders from the Coliseum/Oakland Airport Station for $6 each way starting around 2013.

"We think the project itself will be a failure," said Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan. "It will be slower and too costly to ride, and we could end up with a project that loses money year after year."

Plans to connect BART with the airport have been in the works for at least 20 years. This summer, BART obtained the final piece of funding, $70 million in federal stimulus money.

BART estimates the project will create up to 3,000 jobs, 25 percent of which will be reserved for Oakland residents.

"This is a legacy project for BART and for Oakland. It's much bigger than today - it's for tomorrow," said BART Director Carole Ward Allen, whose district includes the airport and Coliseum Station. BART believes the extension can be built without the city's blessing. Oakland cannot withhold permits and is not funding the project, so BART can proceed regardless of the council's action, BART spokesman Jim Allison said.

Kaplan disagreed. The Port of Oakland, which runs the airport and is part of city government, is chipping in $44 million, which can be withdrawn, she said. Other agencies, such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, might also back away from the project if the city is not on board.

Currently, riders can take the Air BART shuttle between the Coliseum Station and the airport. Air BART costs $3 each way, half of what the new connector would cost, and runs every 20 minutes. In 2008, just under 1 million riders took Air BART, down 25 percent from 2007.

BART wants to replace the shuttle with a train because the shuttle is subject to traffic conditions and can be inefficient, Allison said.

The council's Public Works Committee rejected the plan, concluding that it is too expensive, the number of jobs created is exaggerated and the ridership estimates are not high enough, Kaplan said. BART should spend the money on creating a dedicated bus lane for Air BART and use the remainder of the funding to lower fares or invest in other Oakland projects, such as a transit-friendly development at the Coliseum BART Station, she said.

City officials are also not happy with the location of the tracks, which would run along the recently landscaped median on Hegenberger Road. The city spent millions beautifying the median in 2007-08, planting palm trees, installing historic street lights and hanging banners, hoping to create a welcoming gateway to the East Bay for airport travelers.

Ward Allen said she's disappointed that the City Council is leaning toward opposing the project.

"At this point, for them, it's a symbolic gesture," she said. "But it would be better if we had them on board."

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